There are -20 magery spell channeling bows, but I don't recommend using them because you still need the 90 archery + tactics to perform specials. Given that, bows swing pretty and you'll need to stack high HCI on your suit in order along with higher stamina to hit anything worthwhile. If you have anatomy, you really don't need a mage weapon. I see a few people running around with anatomy and healing again (with faction items, you can get decently fast bandages) and carrying a mage weapon just for the DCI boost. If this is purely PvM, I would highly suggest looking into spellweaving. Necromancy is also good for taking out large hordes of monsters at once with wither. If you can live without resist, I would go:

Magery
Eval
Med
Spirit Speak
Necro
Spellweaving

Use a mage weapon (staff or swords of prosperity, etc if you don't need to drink potions)

I'd kind of like to stick with bows, are there any -0 mage bows? If not, would I be better off dropping inscription for archery?

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Inscription is really better as a stoned off skill. You can get more SDI just from singular items alone then having a skill trained to 100. A weapon skill, spellweaving and pretty much anything else is better than inscription for a full-time skill.

There are -20 magery spell channeling bows, but I don't recommend using them because you still need the 90 archery + tactics to perform specials. Given that, bows swing pretty and you'll need to stack high HCI on your suit in order along with higher stamina to hit anything worthwhile. If you have anatomy, you really don't need a mage weapon. I see a few people running around with anatomy and healing again (with faction items, you can get decently fast bandages) and carrying a mage weapon just for the DCI boost. If this is purely PvM, I would highly suggest looking into spellweaving. Necromancy is also good for taking out large hordes of monsters at once with wither. If you can live without resist, I would go:

Magery
Eval
Med
Spirit Speak
Necro
Spellweaving

Use a mage weapon (staff or swords of prosperity, etc if you don't need to drink potions)

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Thanks. Regarding not needing a mage weapon since I have anatomy... I didn't really want the mage weapon for defense, but for plinking the bad guys while they're busy with EVs or summons. Wanted anatomy for the damage increase too.

Sounds like weapons are a bit weak now for PvM. Guess I'll look into pure mage templates.

Do you think SS is worth having over resist or wrestling? Does it add a lot?

Inscription is really better as a stoned off skill. You can get more SDI just from singular items alone then having a skill trained to 100. A weapon skill, spellweaving and pretty much anything else is better than inscription for a full-time skill.

Just equip inscription when you need to make books and write spells.

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Sounds good. I was just looking for the maximum spell damage and weapon damage with the amount of points I can use. But you're right, 10 SDI for 100 skill points seems a bit much unless I'm PvPing to get over the 15 cap.

So which template is going to put out the most damage? Archer-Mage or Necro/Spellweaving-Mage?

I guess I just really like the idea of still being able to do damage when I'm out of mana with a weapon skill, but with Necro it sounds like I'll rarely be out of mana.

Stratics Veteran

Sounds good. I was just looking for the maximum spell damage and weapon damage with the amount of points I can use. But you're right, 10 SDI for 100 skill points seems a bit much unless I'm PvPing to get over the 15 cap.

So which template is going to put out the most damage? Archer-Mage or Necro/Spellweaving-Mage?

I guess I just really like the idea of still being able to do damage when I'm out of mana with a weapon skill, but with Necro it sounds like I'll rarely be out of mana.

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Spellweaving is nice to be honest with you, albeit not as good as it used to be. However, something to consider is that it is a real mana hog in terms of the spells and how much MP it takes to cast them.

As long as your template is setup correctly, in terms of PvM, you would get more bang for your buck as an archer mage.

Most people might disagree just in thinking about oh oh, you have necro etc., but you can do a lot more with an archer mage setup than as a necro/spellweaving setup.

Why is this? Because I can just equip a ton of arrows into weight reduction quivers, grab some slayers and good mana leech weapons and go have a field party.

You will have zero mana issues to really worry about, while a continuous spellcasting necro/weaver can feasibly have a lot of issues.

Additionally, you will be able to hunt a lot more, than a lot less. Meaning, you will have a greater breadth on what you can hunt than say a necro/weaver.

Sure, a necro/weaver can be a great PvM'er. The issues are you need a very good suit, it is more dangerous soloing as a mage...consequently you need to have slayer spellbooks. Unless...you only like fighting one or two different mobs.

An archer/mage, you can continuously keep your distance from a mob and not let them close in on you. Even fleet of foot mobs! A good collection of spell-channeling bows might be difficult for you to come up with depending what server you are on.

That said, if you liked the mage damage-type setup more, I would just go with a mage template and drop necro. Necro and spirit speak really only have their advantages at spawns. If you don't do spawns then I wouldn't bother with it.

Just keep in mind you will have to decide whether you want to execute weapon specials or not. Will need 90 tactics to do that. Keep in mind anatomy has much less of an overall damage output than tactics. 150 to 170% for GM and legendary tactics versus 55 and 65% for 100 and 120 legendary anatomy.

Spellweaving is nice to be honest with you, albeit not as good as it used to be. However, something to consider is that it is a real mana hog in terms of the spells and how much MP it takes to cast them.

As long as your template is setup correctly, in terms of PvM, you would get more bang for your buck as an archer mage.

Most people might disagree just in thinking about oh oh, you have necro etc., but you can do a lot more with an archer mage setup than as a necro/spellweaving setup.

Why is this? Because I can just equip a ton of arrows into weight reduction quivers, grab some slayers and good mana leech weapons and go have a field party.

You will have zero mana issues to really worry about, while a continuous spellcasting necro/weaver can feasibly have a lot of issues.

Additionally, you will be able to hunt a lot more, than a lot less. Meaning, you will have a greater breadth on what you can hunt than say a necro/weaver.

Sure, a necro/weaver can be a great PvM'er. The issues are you need a very good suit, it is more dangerous soloing as a mage...consequently you need to have slayer spellbooks. Unless...you only like fighting one or two different mobs.

An archer/mage, you can continuously keep your distance from a mob and not let them close in on you. Even fleet of foot mobs! A good collection of spell-channeling bows might be difficult for you to come up with depending what server you are on.

That said, if you liked the mage damage-type setup more, I would just go with a mage template and drop necro. Necro and spirit speak really only have their advantages at spawns. If you don't do spawns then I wouldn't bother with it.

Just keep in mind you will have to decide whether you want to execute weapon specials or not. Will need 90 tactics to do that. Keep in mind anatomy has much less of an overall damage output than tactics. 150 to 170% for GM and legendary tactics versus 55 and 65% for 100 and 120 legendary anatomy.

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Thats good to hear...I guess I'm torn between:

120 Magery
120 Eval
120 Med
120 Archery
120 Tactics
120 Resist Spells

and

120 Magery
120 Eval
120 Med
120 Anatomy
120 Tactics
120 Resist Spells

I like having the anatomy/tactics, but I don't like the idea of relying on mage weapons. Archery/tactics seems ok but if I get disarmed or casting I'm kind of a sitting duck. Have you tried either of these combinations?

I have no experience with the new weapon specials. Are they worth getting? I remember before fencing would paralyze, mace would do crushing blow, and swords did conc. Did they remove those and replace it with the new tactic skills?

Personally I haven't tried an archer mage or any other type of tank since tanks got nerfed. You'll be dividing stat points between dex and int and you really get the worst end of both. You can't get your dex high enough to maintain your swing speed as you take damage, and you won't have enough mana to be an effective mage. Friends of mine that have tried Archer Mages have all moved archery to other templates.

If your looking for a good Archery template that can solo most mobs in the game I would look into a Bushido Chivlary Archer. If your looking for a high PVM damage output mage I would try a spell weaver mage.

I like having the anatomy/tactics, but I don't like the idea of relying on mage weapons. Archery/tactics seems ok but if I get disarmed or casting I'm kind of a sitting duck. Have you tried either of these combinations?

I have no experience with the new weapon specials. Are they worth getting? I remember before fencing would paralyze, mace would do crushing blow, and swords did conc. Did they remove those and replace it with the new tactic skills?

Is the Necro/SS for spawns mainly for Wither?

Thanks!

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I haven't tried those exact combinations. Incorporating max HCI (45), will be a good idea if you run an archer mage. If you plan on PvP at times as well, you will want to have a descent amount of DCI on your person as well.

You are correct as far as the weapon skills being pretty much the same. It is just they made it a requirement to have 90 in tactics to execute secondary specials. You can have JUST 70 to use primary weapon skill specials, but you might as well just have 90 to cover both.

The other question, yes you are correct. I don't run a necro mage, but it is excellent for that reason. You also have a lot of offensive capabilities for PvP.

GFY pretty much said it though. The balance between your INT and DEX will be a bit tricky. However, you won't have to rely on dexterity to either 1. parry or 2. heal. You will have to use the swing speed calculator if you are still interested in this, in order to find max swing speed.

Basically, if it were me, I would pick out different bows with good specials and stats on them that are spell-channeling. You can use non SC bows as well, but those would be best for an opening shot.

Ideally you will want ones with a good amount of swing speed increase (SSI) on them to make up for the lack of dexterity. Other than that, you will need armor that allows you to regain MP while fighting, coupled with some stamina increase on it as well (shouldn't be too difficult).

The archer mage isn't a popular template due to how heavily item-based it is. It however is a lot of fun if you can find the fine line between playing a straight up mage and a straight up archer.

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